Turns out the Zócalo spot that just opened in LH yesterday is a “community space” funded by some churches & some of its members mentioned that they on occassion have Bible-study. They do seem to have some people from the actual community, but many seemed to be from elsewhere. So if you like your “community space” tinged with Christianity then this is the place to be, err.
Lately, I’ve noticed all sorts of new spots opening up around town; and this in spite of La Crisis.
New community center opening in Lincoln Heights
More after the jump…
Being an employee of an Eastside high school has its advantages. I often find myself on the avant-garde of slang. Of course I hear the same jokes, puns, and slang that I heard 10 years in high school: though now & then I am absolutely befuddled by what I hear.
Ever since I’ve moved back to the (Lincoln) Heights in July I’ve had this ice cream truck from hell come ’round. Continue reading
I’ve been commuting to my job at Lincoln High School by bicycle since I’ve started working there almost 2 years ago. It’s been pretty uneventful as far as run-ins with automobiles, suprisingly since Broadway is pretty hectic around 8am. I know that once I approach the school that I should really be on the look out for people darting into the far right lane to drop off their kids. Now here is where today got interesting… Continue reading
I remember way back when the hoods of Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, Happy Valley, Cypress Park, El Sereno, and Glassel Park really didn’t have a moniker to say: this is ____! But in the past year or so I’ve heard many an utterance of the acronym “NELA.” Now, I had in the past said “NorthEast L.A.” or even write it that way. Hell I even thought I made it up, but assuming their is a collective unconsiousness we folks in our part of the Eastside have come up with the same acronym. NOW people say NELA as in Neh-Luh. That my friend is pretty chido in my book.
Before I had to say oh, “I live north of East L.A., across the tracks.” Now I can assuredly say I live in NELA.
Just this evening I grew pretty scared because I heard what I thought were nearby gunshots. Normally I’m pretty adept at discerning gunshots from other random urban noises; but last night my room mate mentioned being outside, on the porch smoking, when some guy started shooting into an apartment complex across from us. Naturally I thought I was hearing round two, but upon hearing the noises once again I figured out what it was: people roling out their trash bins for collection on Monday.
Funny how fear can turn something as benign as the sound of the trashbin being dragged to the curve into a vehicle for possibly bodily injury. Once, about 15yrs ago my mother and I mistook a backfiring car for gunshots. We pulled over 3 blocks from our house as soon as we heard the bangs. It kept driving up and down the street: the moment then felt never ending. I thought, “how much do they need to shoot up before their done?” Finally we glanced up & figured out it was just an old crappy car backfiring. Fear may have its evolutionary advantages but sometimes it for naught.
It’s pretty common for me to have to explain the placement of Lincoln Heights in Los Angeles. Â Most are oblivious to its very existence. Â After the jump is a sample conversation:
Being used to bike rides usually starting further west of my home, I found this ad in The Voice which is a local news periodical pretty interesting. I rarely, if ever, am a part of Midnight Ridazz or Critical Mass since I like rides in small groups. But this might be different so I sent them an email yesterday, but have yet to get response. Maybe they’ve been inundated with a huge response because folks are hopping on two wheels because $4.58/g is causing some hurting.
Is it a day-ride, a night-ride, a tour of the Eastside ride? I’m down for this. I personally enjoy riding through Lincoln Heights with it’s relatively slow traffic and wide residential streets. But I do hate going down Eastern Ave. in El Sereno because it’s a narrow street where SUVs try their best to scare the sh*t out of me with their horns. Now Boyle Heights, that’s a part of town I’d like to try to ride through.
If you get a response, let us know what these “The Voice” people are up to!
Working as a Teacher’s Aide at Lincoln High School I’ve been hearing a lot of talk of budget cutbacks as well as very probable layoffs for teachers. When I hear how many teachers may be layed off I wonder how the LAUSD supposes Lincoln High School will manage to function with less teachers in a student body of 3000+ kids! In response the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) organized a one hour walk-out for teachers, dubbed: One Hour’s Pay for Our Kids. Even though I am not in the UTLA I also participated out there on the sidewalk of Broadway. I am pretty sure that almost every teacher was out there, plus the support of some students!
After the jump, some photos:
Being that there’s been so much drama-for-your-mama on this blog lately I thought I would post something that might cheer some of us up. A friend of mine, with a few friends of his own, has just started this event at the Verdugo bar with music, as he puts it, “belongs in the neighborhood.” The Verdugo bar is in Glassell park. I’ll be there. Enjoy.
Also, the Verdugo bar has an amazing beer selection on tap.
Last night I went to a show @ the now pretty well known venue, The Smell by bicycle. It’s a 5.5mi ride one-way for me, not too far and mostly flat terrain. I was going mainly to see a favorite band of mine, Abe Vigoda.
Now to the point. Riding into downtown, alone, is always an interesting experience. In a large group, or even with a few friends it seems like an open playground compared to the daytime version. The city looks so much more peaceful and almost ghost-town like at dark. I got to the show around 9pm and left around 1:30am. The ride home was the interesting part.
I go down Main St. most of the way. As I was pushing my pedals I couldn’t help but think, in my wearied state, whether the people I saw out on the streets were real or ghosts. The folks hanging outside of Dino’s Burgers, the woman I swear I saw at the little Catholic Gift Shop on Main St., and the man I think I saw walking around the darkened Parque de México.
This idea became even more pervasive as I passed by Lincoln Park. I thought about the history of the place and all the many people that have been there for various reasons. At 1:30 in the morning you have late-nite fishers. I’m not sure why someone would want to be fishing at that hour, but they were there. They weren’t ghostly at all but some shadows amongst the trees seemed otherwise. Looking across the train tracks on the South side of Valley Blvd heading East I am sure I also so see meandering shadows.
History is something that can easily be built over and forgotten, and some people even welcome it as is the case with the Chuppies that El Chavo! pointed out. But it’s something I find so much interest in. A house that I am soon moving in to in Lincoln Heights used to be a market many years ago, originally built in 1915, and still has remnants of a butcher shop & old refrigerator. There is no way I would replace it for a track home in Ranco Cucamonga. No way.
All these thoughts as I make my way home to El Sereno.